Robert the Bruce

(1274-1329) the king of Scotland from 1306 until his death. He joined William Wallace in trying to take power from the English in Scotland, but was defeated several times by the army of King Edward I. He finally defeated the English at Bannockburn in 1314, and England recognized Scotland as an independent country in 1328. After his death Robert's son, David II, ruled Scotland from 1329 to 1371. There is a popular story about how Robert the Bruce, when he was hiding in a cave from the English, watched a spider repeatedly trying to attach its web to a rock until it finally succeeded. This made him determined to keep trying to defeat the English.